1. Field
An inside unit of an air conditioner is disclosed herein.
2. Background
Generally, an air conditioner is a cooling and heating system which heats and cools a room by repeatedly suctioning inside air, exchanging heat with a low temperature or high temperature refrigerant, and then discharging the heat-exchanged air into the room.
In particular, the air conditioner is divided into an outside unit (which may be referred to as an “outdoor side” or “heat radiating side”) which is typically installed at an outside, and an inside unit (which may be referred to as an “inside side” or “heat absorbing side”) which is typically installed at an inside of a dwelling or building. The outside unit typically includes a condenser (an outside heat exchanger) and a compressor, and an evaporator (an inside heat exchanger) is typically installed at the inside unit.
The air conditioner may be classified into a separate type air conditioner in which the outside unit and the inside unit are separately installed, and an integral type air conditioner in which the outside unit and the inside unit are integrally installed. The separate type air conditioner is typically preferred in consideration of an installation space, a noise, or the like.
In a multi-type air conditioner among the separate type air conditioners, a plurality of inside units are connected to one outside unit, and the inside units are installed at rooms to be air-conditioned, respectively, and thus an effect as if several air conditioners are installed may be obtained. Regarding the inside unit of such a multi-type air conditioner, an inside unit of a cassette type air conditioner which is installed at a ceiling of an inside space and heats and cools the inside space is commonly used.
A representative configuration of the cassette type air conditioner is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0074374 (“374 Publication”), which is incorporated herein by reference. The '374 Publication discloses an inside unit of an air conditioner in which a pan assembly, a heat exchanger, a drain pan and a shroud are installed inside a cabinet, and which further includes a suction grille for shielding the cabinet and suctioning inside air, and a discharge port for discharging suctioned air.
The configuration disclosed in the '374 Publication has several disadvantages. The heat exchanger is seated on the drain pan. Therefore, when the drain pan must be separated or removed, the heat exchanger seated on the drain pan must also be disassembled. Also, because an entire load of the heat exchanger is supported by the drain pan, the drain pan may be damaged or separated. Furthermore, when air blown by rotation of a fan passes through the heat exchanger, discharge of the air may be concentrated to a certain section in a lengthwise direction of the discharge port. Therefore, in this configuration, it is not possible to provide an even and equal air volume at the entire discharge port. Additionally, when an air flow is concentrated to a local section, the air flow may be degraded, and thus a noise may be generated.